All In
by cpdfan4
Summary: Xavier is wanted for murder and attacks in Chicago and footage on Brooke's security cameras give hints that it's him who attacked her in Clothes Over Bros. Detectives from CPD fly to Tree Hill to try and catch him – see how the two worlds collide.
1. Chapter 1

Background: Xavier is wanted for murder and attacks in Chicago and footage on Brooke's security cameras give hints that it's him who attacked her in Clothes Over Bros. Detectives from CPD fly to Tree Hill to try and catch him – see how the two worlds collide.

**This is pre-Sam & Quentin is not murdered by Xavier! Everything after the case is completely AU :)

I don't own any part of Chicago PD or One Tree Hill!

Enjoy!

xoxoxoxo

WEDNESDAY

"Brooke! I know you're in there!" Millie banged on the door to her boss and friend's house, begging her to let her in.

Finally, she heard footsteps and the door swung open, revealing a very disheveled Brooke Davis. She had makeup in one hand and it was obvious that Millie had interrupted her trying to cover up her black eyes and bruises that stemmed from last week's attack on her store.

"The detectives from Chicago are flying in today. Their flight lands at 12 and their Sergeant wants to meet with you to ask a few questions," Millie told her sympathetically. She knew that Brooke was taking the attack hard and she hated talking about it, but they both knew that this guy had to be put behind bars before he could hurt anyone else.

Brooke nodded. "Just let me finish my makeup and I'll meet you at the store," she gave her friend a small smile. "Thank you. For everything."

"Of course. I'll have coffee waiting there," Millie smiled back and headed to Clothes over Bros to prepare for the long day ahead of them.

xoxoxoxo

The Chicago Police Department Intelligence Unit entered the Tree Hill Police Department and were greeted by their Sergeant, Rob Hartmann, who quickly debriefed them on the attack on Brooke's store and the evidence that they had pointing to Xavier being the suspect.

The Sergeant of the Intelligence Unit, Hank Voight, then stood up to inform the members of the Tree Hill PD about a similar string of attacks in Chicago that also pointed to Xavier. It seemed that he had begun his crime spree in Chicago before moving to Tree Hill, where he had family that he was now staying with.

"This is disgusting," Detective Jay Halstead muttered. "What kind of creep beats up women?"

"That's what we're here to find out," Detective Antonio Dawson answered, shaking his head as he stared up at the pictures being posted to the whiteboard.

"Who is _that?"_ Jay pointed to the latest picture that had been taped up, of a gorgeous brunette with the most beautiful eyes he'd ever seen.

"Brooke Davis," Sergeant Hartmann answered. "Victim of the latest Tree Hill attack,"

"Wow," he whispered, quiet enough for no one else to hear (or so he thought) and quickly tried to focus back on work.

"Keep it in your pants, Halstead, we got a job to here," Voight's gravelly voice scolded, earning a laugh from Officer Adam Ruzek.

Jay rolled his eyes, annoyed that by now Voight didn't realize he would never let his personal life get in the way of work. He had been a damn good detective for over two years and Voight still seemed to have a problem with nearly everything he did.

Sergeant Hartmann began to play the tape showing the attack on Brooke's store. It was brutal – a masked man ran in and knocked her down immediately, punching her every time she tried to retaliate. Jay's jaw clenched, Antonio groaned, and Ruzek muttered a string of curse words.

"Halstead, Antonio, head over to Ms. Davis' store to talk to her," Voight ordered and the two detectives ran out the door, eager to solve this case and put Xavier behind bars.

xoxoxoxo

Brooke sipped her coffee and tried to focus on the sketch in front of her, doing everything in her power to keep her mind off of the attack until the detectives got to the store.

She heard the door open and looked up to be met with the most beautiful pair of blue eyes she'd ever seen. She quickly dismissed the thought from her mind – she needed to put all of her focus on finding her attacker.

She walked out from behind the counter and stuck her hand out, "Brooke Davis," she introduced herself.

Jay felt a jolt of electricity through his body when he touched her hand and his heart fluttered when she introduced herself with the sexiest raspy voice he'd ever heard. "I'm Detective Halstead, and this is Detective Dawson. We're from the Chicago Police Department," he told her, motioning to Antonio.

She heard footsteps behind her and felt a supportive squeeze on her arm as Millie appeared next to her. "This is my assistant, Millie. It's nice to meet you guys," she smiled at the detectives and they got to work.

Back at the station, Voight and the rest of the team were making fast progress on linking the case back to Xavier. He had a very distinct tattoo on his right forearm and thankfully it was visible in the security footage, giving clear proof that he was the attacker. Ruzek filed the paperwork for a warrant and the team began to make a plan to move in on his house the following day.

By the time Jay and Antonio finished at Clothes Over Bros and got back to the station, the team was wrapping up for the day and Voight quickly debriefed his two detectives on the plan for the morning.

"This case should be closed sooner than we anticipated, but we can't get back to Chicago 'til Friday. The airport here is so small there's only two flights to Chicago per week. If tomorrow goes as planned, you will all have a free day to relax on the beach, so I want your best work," the Sergeant barked, dismissing the team.

Halstead, Dawson, and Ruzek left the station and began walking back to the hotel. "So, Halstead, is she hotter in person?" Ruzek broke the silence.

Jay rolled his eyes, "Let's focus on the case, Ruzek. Can you believe the police here couldn't solve this themselves and we had to come all the way out here?"

Ruzek shrugged, "Hey, everything happens for a reason." He smirked, Antonio laughed, and Jay rolled his eyes again. Why did everyone think he was such a dog?

"Come on guys, it's still early and I don't think we'll have to do too much work catching this guy tomorrow. Brooke's assistant Millie mentioned some popular club called Tric, why don't we check it out tonight?" Antonio suggested, trying to change the subject.

"Hell yeah!" Ruzek accepted eagerly and Jay just nodded, still annoyed.

xoxoxoxo

"How are you?" Millie walked into the back room where Brooke was still burying herself in design sketches.

"Fine. Happy they're going to get him," Brooke said shortly, picking up a colored pencil and angrily coloring in part of a design.

"Brooke," Millie sighed. "You have to let this go. You're safe now and he'll be in jail tomorrow. I miss my happy, fun boss. I miss my friend. Peyton organized a huge show at Tric tonight, why don't you come with Marvin and I? Nathan and Haley are going too,"

Brooke looked up and gave Millie a small smile, "Maybe," she said just to please her assistant, and then quickly went back to her design.

Millie rolled her eyes, knowing Brooke didn't mean it. "You're coming. We'll pick you up at 8," she told her as she began to walk out of the store. "Oh, and by the way, I told those hot detectives to come," she called over her shoulder, then left before Brooke could respond.

Brooke groaned, knowing there was no way out of this one. Her life was finally getting back to normal – she was able to reopen the store and now the cops were going to get Xavier and he was never going to hurt another woman again. She'd spent the past week throwing herself a pity party and knew that it was time to end it, so she locked her designs away and closed up the store to go get ready for Tric, since Millie wasn't taking no for an answer.

xoxoxoxo

Halstead, Dawson, and Ruzek were standing awkwardly at the bar, taking in the scene of the club around them. Tree Hill was a small town, and everyone seemed to know each other. They didn't realize just how out of place they looked until they heard a voice behind them.

"You're not from around here, are you?" They turned to see a tall man laughing at them.

Antonio shook his head, "We're detectives from the Chicago Police Department. Came down here to investigate some attacks that paralleled with attacks in Chicago," he explained.

The man's face dropped. "Brooke?" he asked, confirming the suspicion that everyone knew everyone in this small town.

Antonio nodded. "You know her?"

"Since we were in diapers. She's my wife's best friend. Girl has been through it all, I don't know how she does it," he said sadly. Realizing he hadn't introduced himself, he stuck his hand out to the detectives. "I'm Nathan, by the way."

"Antonio. These are my partners, Jay and Adam," the men shook hands and Jay couldn't help but wonder what Nathan had meant when he said Brooke has "been through it all".

"Well, I gotta get going before my wife comes looking for me. It was nice to meet you guys, good luck with the case." Nathan excused himself and left the bar.

"Yo, Halstead, I can hear you thinking from over here. You need a drink," Ruzek declared, turning around to find the bartender.

Jay sighed, tearing his thoughts from Brooke. _Focus on the case,_ he told himself. Ruzek handed him and Antonio each a beer and Jay took a long sip.The lights in the club dimmed and the crowd went wild as a skinny girl with curly blonde hair walked onto the stage.

"Hey Tree Hill!" she yelled, earning more cheers from the crowd. "Please give a warm welcome to our favorite artist, Gavin DeGraw!"

"This is sick! Let's get closer to the stage!" Ruzek excitedly took off and Antonio and Jay shook their heads but followed him anyway. Tree Hill was a small town, but it was definitely clear that they knew how to have a good time. They found an opening on the floor and Jay took in his new surroundings. He saw Nathan and a woman he assumed was his wife talking to the blonde girl from the stage and another guy. He was about to turn his attention back to the stage when he heard that voice.

"P. Sawyer!" the raspy voice squealed and Jay turned to see Brooke run over to the blonde girl and give her a hug.

"B. Davis!" the blonde answered, squeezing Brooke tight. "You look so good! How are you?"

Brooke smiled a sad smile but nodded. "Better. I'm getting there. Thank you," she hugged her friend one more time. When she broke the hug, she turned her head and saw Jay staring. He tried to look away but it was too late.

"Jay, hi! Hey Antonio and Adam!" she smiled and began to walk over to the detectives. She looked amazing, in a strapless black dress with red heels and matching red lipstick, her brown hair falling over her shoulders in loose waves.

"H-hey Brooke," Jay said awkwardly and could hear Ruzek snickering in the background.

"How did you guys find this place? I didn't think you knew anything about Tree Hill,"

"Your assistant, Millie, told us about it." Antonio answered. "Adam and I are going to go get another beer, we'll see you guys later," and with that, Jay's friends left with a lame excuse that made him feel more awkward than ever. What was going on? He'd never had a problem talking to a girl before, he was the flirt of the Chicago Police Department, hence all the teasing he earned from the unit. But then again, he'd never met a girl like Brooke Davis.

Brooke smiled and Jay noticed her dimples for the first time. God, she was beautiful. "Well, I'm glad you came. Let me introduce you to some people, you look a little lost." She said, laughing and taking his hand to lead him to the group she'd been with earlier. Jay felt the same electricity as earlier when she grabbed his hand and he had to take a deep breath to calm himself down.

"Hey guys, this is Jay, one of the detectives working on my case," she explained to her friends. "Jay, this is Nathan, Haley, Peyton, and Lucas." They stood there for a few minutes, listening to the music and talking to the group.

"I'm gonna go get a drink, anyone want anything?" Brooke asked after a while.

"I'll come with you, maybe I can find my friends," Jay offered, having no idea where Ruzek and Dawson had disappeared to.

Brooke nodded and the two began to walk towards the bar, when suddenly she took an unexpected turn and led them outside.

"Where are we going?" Jay asked, suddenly feeling awkward and nervous again.

"I just had to get out of there for a minute. I used the bar as an excuse, but my anxiety has been really bad since the attack and sometimes I just need fresh air. But I'm glad you came," Brooke explained. She sat down on the steps and motioned for Jay to sit next to her.

"I'm sorry about the attack. We watched the footage earlier, it was brutal." Jay didn't know what else to say, but his heart was breaking for the girl next to him.

Brooke shrugged. "I'm glad it's almost over. Thank you guys for coming out here, the cops here really haven't been much of a help."

He nodded, "I've noticed. He should be locked up by tomorrow morning."

"Oh wow," Brooke was surprised that it could take his team less than 24 hours to find a man who THPD had been trying to arrest for a week. "I'm sorry you had to come all the way out here for a day,"

Jay shook his head. "Actually we're here until Friday, no matter what. No flights to Chicago until then."

She couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, that's what happens when you live in the smallest city in the world," she joked.

Jay nodded, "This is nothing like Chicago," 

"I know. When I lived in New York, it was a different world. I kind of miss it sometimes," she confessed.

"You lived in New York?" he asked, interested. He wanted to know everything about this girl.

"Before I opened up the store in Tree Hill, I ran the company from there. But it wasn't home, ya know? There were people here who needed me, and as much as I wanted to live that glamorous life with parties every night and paparazzi on every corner, I needed to come home. I needed my friends."

"Wait, you _own_ Clothes Over Bros? No way. I thought you just ran the Tree Hill store!" Jay was amazed. The beautiful woman in front of him was 24 years old, running a multimillion-dollar fashion empire?

Brooke laughed and Jay was sure it was the best sound he'd ever heard. "Yes, Clothes Over Bros is my company. I started it in high school, after a break up, hence the name." She laughed again, "I was… a little lost back then. I was a freshman cheerleader dating senior basketball players. By sophomore year, I was cheer captain and throwing the high school's hottest parties in my house because my parents were never in town. I only went to school so I could cheer, I usually skipped class and my grades definitely weren't the best. Boys defined me. I was a bitch, to put it nicely. You met Nathan in there? We made a sex tape together. Lucas? I dated him three times and he cheated on me with Peyton every time. Eventually, I grew up. I realized that I was taking out all of my anger and pain on the people who deserved it least. So I ran for student council president and I won, then I designed a clothing line. I went to New York for it right after I graduated high school, but about a year ago Luke and Peyton broke up and she took it really bad. She needed me more than my company did. And here we are," she shrugged, surprised at herself for spilling her life story to a stranger. But there was something about Jay that made it so easy.

Jay sat there in shock at everything Brooke had just told him. "Your boyfriend cheated on you three times with that girl, and you still gave up everything to come back here for her?"

Brooke just shrugged. "She's my best friend,"

"You're amazing," Jay told her, and before he knew it he was reaching for her hand. She looked up at him and smiled, squeezing his hand back before she stood up.

"Let's go back inside before they send a search party for us," Brooke didn't want this moment to be over, but she had learned over the years to protect her heart. Jay was leaving in two days and she'd never see him again, so she had to try her hardest to make sure nothing happened between them.

Jay nodded and stood up, placing a hand on the small of her back and leading her back inside the club. He quickly spotted Dawson and Ruzek at the bar and said goodbye to Brooke who was heading back over to her friends.

"Good luck tomorrow," she gave him one last smile and walked back over to Peyton.

"Dude!" Ruzek yelled as Jay made his way over to his friends. "Did you get it?"

Jay rolled his eyes at him for what seemed like the hundredth time that night. "It's not like that," he muttered. Brooke Davis was definitely not going to be a one-night fling.

Antonio just laughed at the lovesick younger detective. "Let's get going, we have to be at the station early tomorrow,"

xoxoxoxo

THURSDAY

The bust could not have been easier. The team had met at Xavier's house at 7:30 am, broke down the door, and found him asleep in bed, the tattoo on his arm confirming that it was him. Jay had knocked his gun off the dresser before he could reach for it, leaving him unarmed and unable to fight back. By 9 am, he was behind bars at the Tree Hill Police Station.

The team sat around a table at a small diner, eating breakfast and deciding what to do with their free time. Their flight didn't leave until noon the following day, giving them the whole day with nothing to do in Tree Hill.

"I know what Halstead wants to do," Ruzek smirked.

"I told you, it's not like that," Jay fired back. Antonio just shook his head and shot Ruzek a warning look. Luckily, Voight changed the conversation to the upcoming police barbeque that weekend and the team began making bets on who would win the chili cook off.

After breakfast, Voight announced that he was going to the hotel pool and Olinsky and Dawson decided to go with him. Ruzek and Atwater made plans to go to the beach to drool over hot girls in bikinis, but there was somewhere else Jay needed to be.

"I'll meet you guys there," he told Ruzek, who gave him a knowing look but nodded anyway. Before he knew where his feet were taking them, he found himself outside of Clothes Over Bros. He took a deep breath and walked inside. Millie was at the counter doing something on the register, and she looked surprised to see him.

"Hey, Detective, is everything okay?" she asked worriedly.

"It's good. We got him. I just wanted to let Brooke know," he said sheepishly.

Millie's frown turned into a huge smile. "I'm so glad you got him. Thank you so much. Brooke's in the back, I'll go get her."

She returned a minute later with a confused-looking Brooke but as soon as she saw Jay she broke into a smile. "Hey you,"

"Hey, I just wanted to let you know we got Xavier. He's behind bars for a long time," he told her, smiling back.

Brooke's eyes filled with tears of happiness and they fell before she could stop them. She walked over to Jay and gave him a huge hug, her tears soaking through his shirt. "Thank you so much," she sobbed. He rubbed her back for a minute until she composed herself and pulled back.

"I'm sorry," she wiped her eyes, "You don't even know how much relief just washed over me."

Jay nodded. "Don't apologize, I understand. I just wanted to let you know," feeling awkward again, he began to walk to the door.

"Are you still here until tomorrow?" she asked, causing him to turn back around. He nodded. "Dinner. Tonight. Meet me here at 6." She told him with a smile.

Jay's heart soared. "I'll be here," he told her, leaving the store with a huge smile plastered on his face.

The smile stayed on his face when he got to the beach, causing a game of 20 questions by Ruzek and Atwater.

"It's just dinner," he repeated over and over again, trying to make himself believe it. He kept reminding himself that was going back to Chicago tomorrow and anything more than dinner would be unfair to both of them.

xoxoxoxo

Jay buttoned his shirt, grabbed his wallet, and walked out the door of his hotel room at 5:30 with his heart pounding. He had never been so worked up over a girl before, especially one that he knew he couldn't have. But he couldn't help it – there was something special about Brooke Davis.

He walked into the store as Brooke was locking the register. "Sorry, we're closed-" she began, but when she looked up and saw Jay her facial expression changed from annoyed to happy.

"Sorry, I'll leave," he joked.

"Don't you dare," she laughed and grabbed her purse from behind the counter. "Let's go." She led him out the door and locked it behind her.

"Where are we going?" he asked as they got into her car.

"Just my house," Brooke shrugged. "Figured I'd cook."

"Is there anything you can't do?"

She smirked and raised her eyebrow, "Wouldn't you like to know?"

Jay groaned and shook his head. This girl was going to be the death of him. They pulled up to a huge house and Brooke parked the car and got out, Jay following close behind. She unlocked the door and they walked inside, Brooke heading straight for the kitchen.

"The TV is in here, make yourself at home. I'll be in the kitchen right down the hall, feel free to come in and help yourself to beer or anything," she yelled over her shoulder, pointing to her living room then disappearing out of sight.

Jay looked around the room and took in his surroundings. The room was covered in pictures – one wall was covered in framed magazine covers, with Brooke on the cover of every one. There were countless pictures of Brooke with her friends from Tric and a few of her with a little boy. She looked so happy, her eyes so bright and her dimples popping. He wondered if the attack was what had changed her and made her so sad and anxious, and if it was, he was happy he played a part in helping to put that psycho away.

He walked away from the pictures and joined Brooke in the kitchen where she was standing over the stove.

"Ya done snooping around?" she asked jokingly.

Jay felt his face redden but he couldn't deny it. "You looked happy. In those pictures, I mean,"

"I am happy," she bit her lip, "I just forgot for a while. But I look around, at my friends, at the support they've given me over the past week, and I realize how lucky I am. And it makes me really, really happy."

"You deserve it."

"You don't even know me. But thank you," she smiled and reached into the fridge for two beers.

"But I want to know you. And by what I know so far, you deserve to be happy, Brooke Davis." Jay held out his beer and they clinked their bottles together.

"Cheers," Brooke winked at him and turned back to the stove.

xoxoxoxo

After dinner, they sat outside on Brooke's patio that faced the ocean. The calming sound of the waves crashing and the beautiful girl sitting next to him kept making Jay forget that he had to go back to reality in Chicago the next day.

"So," Brooke broke the silence, "now that you know all about me – tell me about yourself, Jay Halstead,"

"There's not that much to tell. I've lived in Chicago my whole life. My dad wanted me to be a doctor but I didn't want to, so I joined the Army after high school. I came home when my mom was dying of cancer, then couldn't bring myself to go back overseas once she passed away, so I filled out an application for the Chicago Police Department, and here I am." Jay shrugged.

"I'm sorry about your mom," Brooke reached over and laid her hand on top of his. "My mom and I fight a lot, especially over the company, but I don't know what I'd do without her."

"Thanks." Jay turned his hand so their fingers intertwined. "She's proud of you. She'd be stupid not to be,"

Brooke laughed. "You'd be surprised." It hurt Jay's heart that Brooke was so selfless and everyone seemed to treat her so poorly. More than anything, he wanted to be able to show her how much she was worth, but in less than 24 hours he would be back in Chicago. The thought alone ruined his mood and he stood up, letting go of Brooke's hand.

"I should go. Thank you for dinner, it's been great getting to know you," he sighed, looking at Brooke for what would probably be the last time.

Brooke smiled a sad smile and stood up. "Thank you. For everything."

"It's my job, Brooke,"

"Not just for Xavier. For really listening to me and not judging me. I used to be a mess and I hate telling people about that, but the fact that you heard about it and you're still here, it means a lot. It was really nice to talk to someone from outside of the Tree Hill bubble." She reached for his hand one last time to lead him to the door.

Brooke opened her front door and sighed as she watched Jay walk away one last time. Before she realized what she was doing, she called out his name and he turned around. With newfound courage, she walked off of her front porch and met him on her driveway. She reached up and took his face in her hands, then crashed her lips against his. He was shocked at first, but he quickly began to kiss her back. Electricity was radiating through their bodies and neither of them pulled away until they were out of breath.

"Wow." Jay panted.

"I'd never forgive myself if I didn't do that." Brooke shrugged, "Goodbye, Jay Halstead."

"Goodbye, Brooke Davis." He took one last look at the beautiful girl, memorizing the way the moonlight lit up her eyes and her perfect dimples, before turning around to walk back to his hotel where he knew his curious coworkers would be waiting.

xoxoxoxo

FRIDAY

Jay groaned when his alarm went off the next morning, signifying that it was time to get ready to leave Tree Hill and Brooke Davis behind. Part of him was excited to get back to the hustle and bustle of Chicago and get back to working interesting cases, but part of him just could not leave this girl behind even though he knew he had to.

He got ready and met the rest of the team in the lobby of the hotel, where they waited for Sergeant Hartmann to pick them up for the airport.

"Thank God we're getting out of here," Ruzek groaned, "The girls are hot but it's so damn boring."

"Seriously. I fell asleep at 11 last night and I think I was still the last one in the city awake." Atwater complained.

Jay just groaned in response.

"You good?" Ruzek asked.

Jay nodded, "Never been better." He put on his sunglasses and took out his headphones, drowning out his thoughts in music the entire ride to the airport. He didn't say another word until they landed in Chicago, and even then all he said was goodbye to his unit as he got in a cab to go back to his apartment.

xoxoxoxo


	2. Chapter 2

_One year later…_

Jay walked into his usual coffee shop and groaned when he saw the long line in front of him. He was already running late for work and almost left, but decided he needed something other than black break room coffee to make it through the day. He breathed a sigh of relief as the line moved fast and he saw that he was up next. When the woman in front of him began to order, his heart stopped. _That voice._ He would recognize it anywhere.

"I'll take the same and pay for hers!" he blurted out and the barista gave him a strange look, causing the woman in front of him to turn around. Sure enough, it was Brooke Davis. Her jaw dropped and the second they made eye contact, Jay felt his heart stop once again.

"Oh my god, Jay!" Brooke threw her arms around his neck in a tight hug. Their moment was interrupted as the barista cleared his throat to get their attention when the coffee was ready. Jay threw money on the counter and he and Brooke moved to a table as he texted Ruzek to tell Voight he was going to be late.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, still in shock that she was sitting across from him looking as beautiful as ever.

"We're opening a store in Chicago! I have a meeting with some investors this morning then an appointment with a realtor to look at some empty storefronts," she explained, a huge smile on her face.

"That's amazing! I can't believe this," Jay still couldn't form coherent thoughts. He thought he had gotten over Brooke and gone back to his old flirty ways, but seeing her here brought back all of the feelings he'd tried to hide a year ago.

She nodded. "This is…"

"What are the chances?" Jay was glad she couldn't find words either.

"I wanted to call you and tell you I was coming, but I realized I never even got your number when you were in Tree Hill. Can you believe that?"

"I really thought I'd never see you again," Jay just shook his head.

"Well I'm here now. I have a flight to New York to headquarters in the morning, but we still have tonight. Wanna show me around Chicago?" she flashed him a smile, her dimples popping more than ever.

"I'd be honored. I get out of work at 6. Where are you staying?" he asked, smiling back.

"Hotel Monaco."

"I'll meet you there at 7." Jay took out a piece of paper and scribbled something before sliding it towards her. "I gotta get to work, but here's my number." He winked at her before getting up, squeezing her arm as he walked by.

Jay walked up to the stairs to the bullpen with the same smile plastered on his face, earning questions from his coworkers.

"Who's the girl?" Atwater asked after Jay had been sitting at his desk staring off into space with a smile for 20 minutes.

Jay rolled his eyes, but was too happy to hide it. "Brooke Davis."

Ruzek turned around so hard his coffee mug flew off his desk and shattered on the floor. "What?" he asked, ignoring the mess.

"Saw her at the coffee shop this morning. She's opening a store here in Chicago."

"No shit," Antonio muttered, walking out of the break room "Good for you dude." He patted the younger detective on the back on the way to his desk.

"Remember that time I told you everything happened for a reason?" Ruzek asked with a smirk on his face.

"And what was the reason for you breaking that perfectly good coffee mug?" Jay shot back with a laugh.

The mood in the bullpen was lighter than it had been a long time as they all settled into their files and paperwork, but the day at work crawled by. With no open cases, the unit was using the day to catch up on paperwork and Jay was pretty sure the clock wasn't moving. When the clock finally struck 6, he was out the door in a heartbeat. His smile was still on his face as he drove back to his apartment and began to get ready for his night with Brooke. He knew she still lived in Tree Hill and he was obviously in Chicago, but he was taking this morning as a sign from the universe: Brooke Davis is not someone you can just give up.

Jay finished getting ready, sprayed on his favorite cologne and grabbed his wallet and keys, then got in his car to make his way back to Brooke. As he got in his car, his phone vibrated with a text from an unknown number.

 _Room 310. Can't wait to see you :) B_

He smiled as he typed a quick reply – _See you in 10_ – then started his car and made his way to Hotel Monaco. He parked his car and almost ran to the elevator; he had never been so excited for a date before, and he wasn't sure if this was even a date. After what seemed like an eternity but was really only 30 seconds, the elevator arrived on the third floor and Jay was in front of room 310. The smile still on his face, he raised his hand and knocked on the door.

"Wow," Jay's breath caught in his throat when Brooke opened the door. She was dressed casually in ripped jeans and a tank top, but she still took his breath away.

She laughed and her dimples popped out. "Hey, I'll be ready in two minutes. Come in," she moved to the side to let him in the room.

"You're beautiful," he told her as he walked past her into her hotel room.

"You're not to bad yourself." She winked at him before disappearing into the bathroom. She reappeared a few minutes later and walked over to the bed where he was sitting. "Ready?"

"I've been ready for a year," he admitted, grabbing her hand and leading her out of the hotel room.

"Where are we going?" she asked when they got in the elevator.

"You hungry?"

"That is never a question," she laughed, "Always."

"I knew I liked you," Jay laughed back, "We'll start at my favorite restaurant – the Purple Pig. Then I'll take you to Navy Pier."

"That sounds great," she squeezed his hand as the elevator doors opened and they walked through the lobby, then out into the warm Chicago night.

"Do you wanna walk or drive?" he asked.

"Let's walk. It's nice out and I can't get over how beautiful this city is."

"It's definitely not Tree Hill," Jay laughed.

"That's for sure." Brooke had honestly never been so amazed by a city. New York had been nice, but Chicago was something amazing. Before she met Jay, she had never had any desire to visit, but a few months ago when Victoria suggested opening a store on Michigan Ave, she jumped at the chance to see where he lived. She never imagined she'd actually find him and be lucky enough to get her own personal tour, but she couldn't have been happier with how fate worked.

They walked in silence for a few minutes as Brooke took in everything around her. She smelt the restaurant before she saw it and her stomach rumbled. "Oh my god, it smells so good," she said, laughing.

"You have to try the truffles, they're the best," Jay told her as they walked up to the restaurant and he opened the door for her. They were seated quickly and taken care of quickly, Jay's frequent visits seeming to pay off.

"So how have you been?" Jay asked once they ordered.

"Good. Really good. Got my life back on track after the attack and the company is thriving. I've started to design a children's line, too." She told him proudly.

"That's amazing. I'm really happy for you." Jay smiled, causing Brooke to blush.

"Thank you. How about you? How's work?"

"It's good. Just trying to get all the psychos off the street, ya know?"

Brooke nodded. "I still can't thank you enough for putting him away,"

Jay shrugged, but a smile took over his lips. "It's my job."

"Is it weird that I'm kind of thankful I was attacked?" she asked slowly, making a face when she realized how bad that question sounded.

He raised his eyebrow, "Yeah, that's pretty weird… what do you mean?"

"I met you because of it." She said simply, as if he'd just asked the stupidest question in the world. "I mean, yeah, I could've gone without the black eyes and bruises and anxiety, but being here right now feels so right. And without Xavier, we both know I wouldn't be here right now."

Jay smiled, "It does feel right." Their food came and they ate in a comfortable silence, sneaking glances at each other whenever one thought the other wasn't looking. Every now and then Brooke would reach over and try to steal a fry from Jay, earning a playful push. Jay paid the bill and led them back outside, once again taking Brooke's hand to hold on the walk over to the pier.

"That was so good, I'm going to be full for like three days," she groaned.

Jay laughed, "I told you! Let me guess, they don't have food like that in Tree Hill?"

Brooke shook her head, "No, they definitely don't have food like that in Tree Hill. They really don't have anything in Tree Hill anymore."

"So why are you still there?" Jay asked, curious about the sadness in her voice during that confession.

"Actually… I wanted to talk to you about that tonight. Peyton and Luke are getting married next month and moving out to LA. And Nathan just got drafted by the Bobcats, so him and Haley are moving their family down to Charlotte. My mom is back in New York and Millie's boyfriend just got a great job offer in Oklahoma and I want her to go with him. So I guess all my reasons for staying in Tree Hill are leaving…"

Jay's heart began to beat fast. "What are you saying?"

"If I can find a store that I like here… I think I'm going to close the Tree Hill location and move out to Chicago to run it. Unless that would be weird for you, because it's beautiful here but I-"

Jay stopped walking and turned so he was facing Brooke. "You ramble when you're nervous, you know that?" he asked, a huge grin spreading across his face. "I would love nothing more than for you to move out to Chicago. I don't know what we are right now, but I can promise you'll always have at least a friend here."

Brooke reached forward and threw her arms around Jay, hugging him tight. "Thank you," she whispered into his chest. She pulled away and looked back into his eyes. "By the way, I also did find a store that I liked. I just wanted to see your reaction about me moving out here before I told you."

"So you're moving to Chicago?"

"That's what the meeting in New York is about tomorrow. But yeah, I think I'm moving to Chicago." Brooke announced.

Jay had never seen anyone smile so wide in his life, but he was sure his smile was just as big. He couldn't help it, he leaned forward and crashed his lips on to Brooke's and the kiss was more electrifying than their first one a year ago. They struggled for control, tongues darting back and forth, Brooke pulling the short hairs on the back of Jay's neck until they both ran out of breath.

"I think we'll have plenty of time to see the pier," Brooke panted as she pulled away. "Take me back to my room." She winked, running towards the nearest taxi.

xoxoxoxo

"Jay," Jay woke up to a raspy voice and soft kisses being placed on his forehead.

He broke out in a huge grin when he opened his eyes to see Brooke straddled on top of him. "Good morning," he mumbled.

"My flight leaves in two hours," she said sadly, climbing off of him to get out of the bed.

"Do you have to leave?" he whined, the memories of last night coming back and another huge smile breaking out on his face.

"I mean… I could stay, but then I'd miss all of my meetings in New York and I couldn't file the paperwork to open up the store here…" she shrugged, raising an eyebrow to tease him.

"Ugh," Jay groaned. "When will you be back?"

"A few months." Brooke looked up from her suitcase and into his blue eyes. "I'll have to close down and sell the Tree Hill location, then go to New York for a few weeks to get everything together before I can get back out here." She walked back over to the bed and sat down beside Jay, who grabbed her hand.

"I'm gonna wait for you, Brooke Davis." He promised. He'd gone a year thinking he was never going to see the girl again; he could definitely make it a few months knowing she was coming back.

"You better," she squeezed his hand.

"I'm all in. I'm gonna miss you though." He pulled her back down on top of him and placed a kiss on the top of her head.

"All in," she mumbled into his chest. She squirmed out of his grip and placed a soft kiss on his lips before getting back up. "But you reallllly have to let me shower so I don't miss my flight." She gave him a signature Brooke Davis wink and disappeared into the bathroom.

She returned a few minutes later with a twinkle in her eye and a smirk on her face. "What?" Jay asked suspiciously.

"I got an idea,"

"For what?"

"Come to Peyton and Luke's wedding with me. It's next month, so it would cut the time apart in half. And going to your ex-boyfriend's wedding alone isn't really ideal. I know you met everyone at Tric that night, but I want you to _really_ get to know my friends before everyone leaves and everything changes. Please?" she was almost begging.

"Of course." Jay blurted out before he even knew what he was saying. He didn't think about work or Voight or any obligation he could possibly have in Chicago. All he could focus on was the beautiful girl in front of him admitting that she needed him just as much as he needed her.

Brooke's face lit up as she walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his body. "Thank you. I know you weren't a huge fan of Tree Hill, but this means more than you could ever know."

"I think you could convince me to do anything for you, Brooke." Jay laughed, wrapping his arms around her small body.

"Good, because I need a ride to the airport." She laughed and pulled away to finish packing her suitcase. Jay groaned and shook his head, wondering how he was going to survive another month without this girl.

xoxoxoxo

Jay parked his car at O'Hare and he and Brooke very slowly made their way into the airport, neither of them wanting their time together to end. They'd only been together for a day, but Jay was positive it was the best day of his life and he couldn't wait for hundreds of days like that when Brooke finally moved to Chicago.

"Last call for flight 457 to New York City," the announcement boomed through the airport and Brooke looked up at Jay with sad eyes.

"That's me." She sadly stated the obvious.

"I'll see you soon, Brooke Davis." He leaned down to capture her lips into one last perfect kiss.

"You better wait for me." She reminded him as they pulled away.

"Always. I told you, I'm all in."

"All in." she repeated, placing a final kiss on his lips before turning around to walk towards her terminal. Jay watched her go until she disappeared into a crowd and he prayed that this next month would be the fastest month of his life.


	3. Chapter 3

_One month later…_

"Welcome to Tree Hill, enjoy your stay!" the cheerful flight attendant smiled at Jay as he got off the plane. Jay smiled back, which wasn't a hard task considering he hadn't wiped the grin off his face since his alarm went off in Chicago this morning. The weekend of Lucas and Peyton's wedding was finally here after the longest month of Jay's life. He and Brooke were constantly texting and Skyped at least once a week, but the thought of seeing her in person again gave Jay butterflies unlike anything he'd ever felt before.

Jay walked through the airport, searching for a familiar pair of beautiful hazel eyes. He suddenly heard a raspy voice call his name and turned around with a huge smile on his face. He ran up to Brooke and before even saying hello, captured her lips in a perfect kiss to make up for the long 32 days apart.

"Ew, grossss," a little voice whined, and Jay looked down to see a little boy holding Brooke's hand and giving him a dirty look.

"Brooke?" he asked worriedly, "Did you forget to tell me something?"

Brooke burst out laughing and bent down to pick up the young boy. "Jay, this is my godson, Jamie. Jamie, this is Aunt Brooke's friend Jay. Can you say hi?"

Jay's heart sank a little at being called a "friend", but he knew they had never had that conversation. He made a mental note to talk to her about it, then waved to the little boy in Brooke's arms.

"Is this the boy you always talk about?" Jamie asked Brooke, ignoring Jay's greeting.

Brooke blushed. "Yes, this is the detective from Chicago," she explained, then turned her attention to Jay, who still looked confused. "Haley and Nathan had a meeting with a realtor today, so I got stuck with this little monster. But I'll make it up to you," she promised, leaning in to meet his lips again.

"Still gross," Jamie whined. Brooke laughed against Jay's lips and Jay couldn't help but smile. The initial disappointment of not being alone with Brooke was gone; he knew he'd even be happy with Brooke even if they were stuffed in a room with a million people.

Brooke pulled away and winked at Jay before putting Jamie down and grabbing his hand. She grabbed Jay's hand with her free hand and intertwined their fingers. "Let's go," she smiled, leading her two favorite boys out of the airport.

xoxoxoxoxo

Brooke sat on her patio, watching Jamie and Jay have a catch with the football. As she thought about her bizarre situation, her heart swelled. She had met Jay over a year ago and they've spent approximately three days together, ever, but she was absolutely positive she was falling in love with him. She hadn't felt this way since the first time she saw Lucas. Even then, she hadn't felt _this_ good.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Jamie's giggles as he ran onto the patio and dove onto her lap. "What are you doing?" she asked, laughing and pulling the little boy in for a hug.

"Jay's trying to tackle me!" Jamie tried to catch his breath but was unable to stop laughing as Jay walked up to Brooke's chair.

"Oh, you want me to protect you?" Brooke couldn't stop laughing either, between Jamie's infectious giggles and Jay's goofy smile as he looked down at them.

"Pleeeease Aunt Brooke!" As Jamie begged, Jay reached down and easily picked both Brooke and Jamie off of the chair, earning matching squeals from both of them as he began to walk to the pool.

"Don't you dare!" Brooke screamed, trying to be serious but still unable to stop laughing. "Jay-"

Before she could finish, the three of them were underwater.

"You are so dead!" she screamed as soon as her head reached the surface. Jay and Jamie high-fived and her jaw dropped. "Oh my god, you two ganged up on me!" she realized she'd been played and tried to act mad, but once again her overwhelming happiness won and she broke out in a smile.

Jamie swam over to the steps and got out of the pool, grabbing a towel to dry off. "I like him better than Owen, Aunt Brooke." He announced.

Brooke rolled her eyes. "I'm so glad he has your approval,"

Jamie beamed, ignoring his aunt's sarcasm. "My mom is here! I have to go home to feed Chester. Bye Aunt Brooke! Bye Jay!" the little boy took off into the house and Brooke and Jay were finally alone.

Jay swam behind Brooke and wrapped his arms around her, squeezing her tight. "I missed you," he mumbled into her neck between soft kisses.

Any ounce of annoyance Brooke had from being thrown in the pool melted as she turned around to face him, meeting his sky blue eyes. "I missed you so much," she rasped, crashing her lips to his. Her hard, passionate kiss was the complete opposite of the soft kisses Jay had been giving her seconds before. She ran her tongue across his bottom lip, begging for entry. He responded, opening his mouth as she tugged at the short hairs on the base of his neck. His hands found her hips and he lifted her so she was sitting on the edge of pool, then his hands found their way all over her body, their lips never separating. Jay's lungs begged for air but he had missed the feeling of her and her lips so much he wasn't sure he could pull away. Eventually they pulled apart, foreheads against each other, gasping for air.

"What are we?" Jay blurted out before he could stop himself.

"What?" Brooke asked, caught off guard.

"When you introduced me to Jamie," Jay stood up straight so he could look into her eyes, "you said I was your _friend,"_ he put emphasis on the last word.

Her smile faded. "Jay… you know I like you. A lot. But we've literally spent three days together in our entire lives. I wasn't going to throw a label on us, especially not in front of a three year old,"

Jay tried to hide the disappointment in his eyes as he nodded. "I get it,"

Brooke reached up and cupped his cheek, not missing the flicker of hurt that crossed his eyes. "You know we're gonna figure this out, right? I've just been really quick to rush into things before and I don't want to ruin this. I'm still all in," she reminded him of their conversation in Chicago last month.

Jay smiled and leaned in to kiss her forehead.

"Come on, get out of the pool. We've got places to be." Brooke ordered, standing up from the edge of the pool and grabbing a towel.

"What? Where?"

"You're coming to the rehearsal dinner with me, obviously! Plus I need all of the most important people in my life to get to know each other," she smiled at Jay and handed him a towel as he walked up to her. "We'll see if you still want a label after you hear the stories I'm sure they're gonna tell," Brooke laughed, but she was secretly freaking out about what her friends would tell Jay. Especially if high school came up in conversation – she had shared pieces of it with him, but there were still some pretty ugly stories she didn't need him to know.

"It's going to take a lot more than old stories to scare me away, Brooke Davis." Jay promised as she led him into the house to get ready.

xoxoxoxoxo

"Would you calm down?" Brooke squeezed Jay's hand as they walk towards the restaurant. "You've already met some of them, everyone's going to love you."

"But they're all so important to you-" Jay started but she cut him off.

"So are you," she reminded him, squeezing his hand one last time as she pushed open the restaurant door.

"B. Davis!" Peyton was the first to spot them and ran up to give her best friend a hug, then turned to Jay. "Jay, good to see you again." She smiled. Haley and Jamie came up next, followed by Nathan and Lucas and more people whose names Jay couldn't remember. He smiled at how much everyone loved Brooke and how happy she was around these people – he hoped she would be this comfortable and happy when she got to Chicago.

They finally sat down at their table, with Brooke & Jay between Lucas & Peyton and Nathan & Haley. After they ate, Lucas and Peyton disappeared to talk to more guests and Brooke and Haley got up to check on Haley's kids, leaving Jay and Nathan alone.

"She likes you a lot, ya know," Nathan told Jay.

"What?"

"Since she got back from Chicago, every time I walk in my house she's there, talking to Haley about you," Nathan laughed. "I haven't seen her this into a guy since my brother. But I think you're better for her than he ever was."

Jay didn't know what to say. "Thanks, man."

"Just take care of her. No one deserves happiness like Brooke does. I told you I've known her since we were in diapers, and I wasn't kidding. She's had it really rough – the things that have happened to her, if they happened to any other person, they'd be done – but somehow that girl comes back stronger than ever every time."

"What do you mean, the things that have happened to her?" Jay couldn't help but ask.

Nathan shrugged. "She raised herself. Her parents were never around; her own mother told her she was a mistake. Now she'll show up once every few months to reap the success of the company. My douchebag brother cheated on her three times, and every other boyfriend she had in high school probably cheated on her too. She almost got herself killed by a psychopath murderer trying to save Peyton. She ran back into our high school when there was an active shooter to try and help whomever she could. She climbed into a car hanging off of a bridge after a car accident to get my son out. She's fostered children before and they've been taken away from her without notice. She's been attacked – you know that. But she's always come back and been… Brooke. She's just Brooke." He shook his head.

Jay got chills listening to Nathan talk about Brooke's past. He wasn't sure how to reply, and as if on cue, he felt a pair of arms around his neck, hugging him from behind. "Talking about me?" Brooke asked.

"Just about how amazing you are," Jay smiled, turning his head to look up at her.

"With Nate? Yeah right," Brooke laughed, not believing that Nathan could be serious for the two minutes she and Haley were gone.

"Hey!" Nathan objected. "I have very nice things to say about you, Brooke Davis. Unless you wanted me to tell him about the geometry exam-"

"Okay, okay, okay!" Brooke cut him off. "I believe you," she rolled her eyes.

"I was actually just about to tell him about that time you became Jamie's favorite person ever," Nathan told her.

"You mean the day he was born?" she joked, sitting down on Jay's lap.

"You wish. Anyway," he looked at Jay. "Jamie has this red cape that he's obsessed with. Says it helps him jump higher to shoot a basketball. A few months ago, he wore it to preschool and this kid starts making fun of him, saying capes are for babies. What does this one do? She makes me a matching cape for me and I wear it to Jamie's school to show all the kids that even cool NBA players wear capes. Then, obviously, everyone wants capes, so Brooke spent an entire day making red capes for Jamie's entire preschool class."

"It was awesome!" Jamie chimed in, having returned to the table with Haley.

Brooke felt Jay's arms around her waist tighten and she blushed. "Anything for my favorite boy," she told Jamie, who stuck his tongue out at Jay, earning a round of laughter from the table.

xoxoxoxoxo

"I was right, you know. Everyone loves you." Brooke looked up at Jay. They were lying on her couch, her head in Jay's lap, watching some rom com on TV.

"Oh no no, if tonight taught me anything, it's how much everyone loves _you."_ Jay smiled down at her.

"They have to love me," Brooke shrugged, then sat up and faced him. "But seriously, I don't remember the last time Haley approved of a boy I was dating,"

"Dating?" Jay raised his eyebrow.

"After seeing you with Jamie today, and all of my friends… I don't know, it just feels right. I know I said, like, 8 hours ago that I didn't want to rush things, but I also don't want to miss out on this," Brooke bit her lip nervously.

"On what? I already told you, I'm all in whether you want to label us or not. If you're doing this because of what I said earlier-"

She shook her head. "I'm not. I'm doing this because I want to, _boyfriend._ Because I'm falling in love with you," she said quietly, leaning forward to press a soft kiss on his lips.


	4. Chapter 4

_Thank you for all the reviews, sorry I haven't updated this in a while – I have a few stories going on rn & I'm trying to give equal love to all of them! I was kinda stuck on this one (hence the delay) but thanks to the review of maryrizzo11, I got some direction of where to take this and I hope you enjoy it! So PLEASE keep reviewing, it helps me and I appreciate it so much! xo _

LUCAS & PEYTON'S WEDDING DAY

Jay woke up the next morning to an empty bed and groaned; he'd never taken Brooke as an early riser. He heard noise coming from downstairs and got out of Brooke's bed, pulling on sweatpants and a t-shirt before making his way out of the room. When he reached the bottom of the stairs he was greeted by Jamie laying across Brooke's couch reading a book to his little sister Lydia.

"Hi Jay," the little boy said through a yawn.

"Hey guys," Jay tried to hide the confusion in his voice as he made his way into the kitchen to find Brooke. She was standing at the stove flipping pancakes, completely oblivious to his presence. Jay took advantage of the opportunity and quietly walked up behind her, wrapping his arms around her tiny waist and placing a kiss into her hair.

Brooke jumped but recovered quickly. "Good morning," she smiled up at him. "Sorry I forgot to warn you I was hosting day care this morning. Hales is at her hair appointment and Nathan has best man duties, whatever that means."

"Do you have maid of honor duties?" Jay asked, unsure of how the whole wedding thing worked. All of his friends back in Chicago were bachelors, none of them nearly had their shit together like the people of Tree Hill and Jay couldn't remember the last time he'd attended a wedding.

"I do, but not 'til later. First I have to feed the monsters and put the finishing touches on Lyd's flower girl dress and drop them off back home, then my hair appointment is at 12 - you can chill here or go to Nate's with the guys – then Peyton and Haley are coming here to get ready. The guys are coming here later and the limo is picking us up at 4 to go to the church…" Brooke started spewing plans at a mile a minute and Jay's head began to spin.

"Ooookay," Jay said slowly, reaching to grab a piece of bacon off the counter.

"Sorry," Brooke laughed as she flipped the last pancake and shut off the stove. "I'm so stressed, this day has to be perfect for Peyton." She turned around so she was finally facing Jay.

"It will be," Jay moved his hands from Brooke's waist to her shoulders and placed a kiss on her forehead.

"How do you know?" she asked, her fears of screwing this up getting bigger as the event got closer.

"Because you're Brooke Davis and I know how hard you've been working on this during the last month. And because you designed four beautiful dresses and decorated two beautiful venues and everything you do is perfect. Now you go finish Lydia's dress and I'll go feed the kids, okay?"

Brooke let out a deep breath and felt her eyes well up with tears. How had she gotten so lucky? Her world could be moving at the speed of sound and all she had to do was glance into Jay's blue eyes and it was like a wave of calm crashed over her. "Thank you," she choked out, pushing up on her tip-toes to press their lips together, then burying her head in his chest to relax for one last second.

"No crying. It's going to be perfect, I promise. You're perfect." Jay placed a final kiss into Brooke's hair before she pulled away.

"Thank you," she repeated before turning to go upstairs and finish the flower girl dress, but the simple words didn't even begin to describe how grateful she was that fate had brought her together with this man.

Jay grabbed the plates of pancakes and bacon off the counter and carried them into the living room, placing them on the coffee table in front of Jamie and Lydia who were now engrossed in cartoons on the TV.

"Are you excited for the wedding?" he asked the kids as he sunk down on the couch next to Jamie.

"I get to wear a dress!" Lydia exclaimed through a mouthful of pancakes, her eyes lighting up.

"No way! What does it look like?" Jay asked the little girl.

"Aunt Brooke made it," she said proudly. "It's white and sparkly and has a pink bow!"

"If Aunt Brooke made it, it has to be special, huh?" Jay asked and Lydia nodded eagerly.

Jamie just groaned as he bit into a piece of bacon. "I have to wear a suit."

"They're not that bad," Jay assured him. "Besides, the girls love 'em," he winked as Jamie's face broke out into a smile.

"Jay!" Brooke yelled from upstairs. "He's _five."_

"So?" both Jamie and Jay yelled back simultaneously, causing them to laugh and high-five each other as Brooke groaned. She had a feeling the tag-team between those two was going to be the death of her.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Jay had decided to go over to Nathan's while Brooke was at her hair appointment in an effort to get to know her friends better so Brooke dropped him off at the same time she dropped off Jamie and Lydia. He walked into the house behind the two kids and found Nathan and Lucas in the living room watching a basketball game.

"Jay! Good to see you again," Nathan greeted him, shaking his hand.

Lucas raised his hand in greeting but didn't say anything. Jay couldn't shake the feeling that Brooke's ex wasn't too fond of him, but he made his way over to him anyway.

"Hey man, congrats," Jay reached out to give him a handshake as well.

"Thanks," Luke grunted, turning his attention back to the TV.

"Dad!" Jamie called from upstairs, "Can you help me feed Chester?"

"Coming bud!" Nathan laughed, getting up off the couch to find his son and leaving Jay and Lucas alone. Jay took a deep breath as the game cut to commercial break, taking away his only distraction.

"Hey, are we good?" Jay couldn't help but ask, wanting to dissolve any tension before the two were together in front of Brooke.

"Why wouldn't we be?" Luke asked.

"I was just getting a vibe that you don't like me and with what I've heard about you and Brooke-"

"No," Luke interrupted Jay. "I'm sorry if it's come off like that, I guess I'm more nervous than I'm trying to let on. Brooke… I'm really glad she found someone like you. There's always going to be a part of me that loves Brooke and all I want is for that girl to be happy, especially after what I put her through. It's hard for me to admit it, but I've never seen her eyes shine like they did when she walked in with you last night."

Jay's jaw almost dropped, he'd never thought this conversation was going to go the way it was. "Well… I never thought I'd thank a guy for cheating on someone, but seriously… thank you for leading me to her,"

Lucas just shrugged. "Thank you for finding her. Just know that if you do anything to hurt her, you have an army coming after you. It may sound hypocritical, coming from me and all, but-,"

This time Jay interrupted Luke. "You don't have to worry about that."

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

The ceremony at the church had been beautiful and now that they were finally at the reception and it was going smoothly, Brooke's worries finally began to melt away.

"Have I told you that you look beautiful tonight?" Jay asked as he and Brooke danced; her hands around his neck and his hands on her waist, their bodies molding perfectly together.

"A few times," she smiled up at him, "But feel free to continue."

"You're beautiful," Jay mumbled, dropping his head into her shoulder. "You're beautiful," he began to trail kisses up her jaw, mumbling the two words between each kiss until he reached her lips. He felt her smile into the kiss as she pulled his neck down to bring them closer together, if that was even possible.

"Grosssss," Jay had déjà vu as he heard a little voice begin to whine and the couple broke apart to find Jamie standing next to them.

"What's up, Jaim?" Brooke laughed, bending down to pick up her godson.

"I wanted to tell Jay that he was right – Madison said she likes my suit!" he exclaimed, turning in Brooke's arms to give Jay a thumbs-up.

Brooke groaned as the two high-fived again. "What are you doing with us then!? Go get her, tiger," Jay egged the little boy on, much to Brooke's dismay.

Jamie wiggled his way out of Brooke's arm and took off running as soon as his feet hit the ground, causing Brooke to punch Jay in the shoulder. "Really?" she tried to act mad but the smile on her face told otherwise. "I need another drink," she decided, taking Jay's hand and leading him off the dance floor and to the bar.

"Tequila? Really?" Jay made a face at the shot glass Brooke placed in front of him.

"Welcome to Tree Hill," Brooke winked and handed him a lime before clinking their glasses together. "Cheers."

Jay made a face as the amber liquid burned his throat and by the time he peeled the lime from his mouth Brooke had already ordered another round. He raised his eyebrows as she pushed the shot glass towards him but he knew she was relieved that her time as maid of honor was nearly over and she needed to let loose. "This is my last one," he told her, knowing he had to be able to get her back home tonight.

She pouted but nodded anyway, knocking the shot back and ordering a final shot for herself. Jay moved closer to her and wrapped his arms around her from behind as she leaned into him. Haley and Nathan joined them at the bar and the girls continued to drink as Nathan introduced Jay to a few more of the guys. Jay was talking to Millie's boyfriend, Mouth, when Brooke suddenly stumbled over to him.

"This is my favorite song!" she yelled over the music, grabbing his hand as _Love on Top_ by Beyonce began to play from the DJ booth.

Jay laughed at her and excused himself from the conversation as he put an arm around Brooke's hip to steady her as she led them back to the dance floor. Once they got to the dance floor, Brooke found all of her cheer friends from high school and the group began to entertain the entire crowd with their dance moves. As uncoordinated as she was due to the tequila, Jay could still tell that Brooke had been one talented cheerleader. _Wannabe_ by the Spice Girls began to play and the group of girls shrieked as the crowd began to cheer.

"What's going on?" Jay asked Nathan who had appeared beside him with a sleeping Lydia in his arms.

"They did this dance at a party the night we graduated high school. It was the last thing they did as a cheer squad, so now whenever they're together it's become tradition." Nathan explained. Jay couldn't take his eyes off of Brooke – she looked so happy and carefree as she danced and sang at the top of her lungs.

"She's so happy," Nathan observed, as if he was reading Jay's mind. Jay smiled as he made eye contact with Brooke and she blew him a kiss. "That's all you, man." Nate continued, patting Jay on the back before heading out on the dance floor to get his wife.

Jay followed his lead and made his way out to Brooke as the dance music ended and _A Drop in the Ocean_ by Ron Pope began to play. Brooke immediately threw her hands around Jay's neck and melted into him, burying her head in his chest as they swayed slowly. After a minute, Jay was pretty sure he was supporting all of Brooke's weight and he leaned down to whisper in her ear. "You ready to go?"

Brooke nodded and pulled back from Jay's chest and looked up at him when he noticed the tears in her eyes. "What's wrong?" he asked, worried.

She shook her head but began to cry harder. Jay grabbed her hand and led her off the dance floor and out the doors to the terrace. Luckily no one else was outside, as most people had gone home at this point, and Jay sat on a bench and pulled Brooke onto his lap. "Brooke, what is it?" he asked gently, using his thumbs to wipe away the tears streaming down her face.

"They're happy tears," she finally managed to choke out. "I'm sorry. It's the stress, and probably the tequila, but… listening to the words to that song and being here with you, and the thought of moving to Chicago with you next month… I'm just so happy. And I never thought my life would turn out like this, not after high school and Lucas and all the stupid celebrities in New York but my heart is just so full-" she continued to ramble, the tears still falling down her face.

Jay shut her up by pressing a searing kiss to her lips that tasted like a mixture of tequila and salt water from her tears. "I love you," she mumbled against his lips, shocking herself. She hadn't told a guy she loved him since Lucas all those years ago, her guard was always up so high. She had just become official with Jay the day prior, but she couldn't fool herself this time. She loved Jay. She was in love with him.

"I love you too," Jay whispered into Brooke's hair once she'd pulled away and buried her face in the crook of his neck as he rubbed her back. "Ready to go home now?"

He felt her nod against his neck but neither made the effort to move. "I can't wait until Chicago is home," she whispered, finally sitting up to meet Jay's eyes.

"I can't wait to have you in Chicago with me. I can't wait to do this everyday," Jay placed a soft kiss on her forehead and reached up to wipe the mascara from under her eyes.

"I can't believe I'm leaving Tree Hill again," she finally pushed herself up off of Jay, reaching for his hand to pull him up behind her and not letting go as they began to walk.

"You're going to love Chicago," Jay promised, squeezing her hand.

"I know," she smiled up at him. "But actually, Chicago might not be home,"

"What?" Jay asked, confused, feeling his heart drop.

"Sometimes home isn't a place, Jay. I don't think home is Tree Hill anymore, and I don't think it's going to be Chicago, either. I think home is you. I never thought that home could be a person, ya know? When Millie told me about moving to Oklahoma with Mouth, she told me that he was her home, and I laughed at her. But I get it now. Because I found my home." At this point they had stopped walking and were standing next to the door, neither wanting to go back inside. Brooke looked up at Jay nervously with big eyes, as if she was looking for confirmation that what she'd just said was okay.

"I love you, Brooke Davis. Thank you for letting me in," Jay pulled her into him and she placed a kiss on his chest through the fabric of his shirt before looking up at him with a sparkle in her eye.

"So there are four things that happen at every Tree Hill wedding, and you've only seen three of them…" she smiled, her dimples deeper than Jay had ever seen them, ready to lighten the mood now that she had gotten everything off her chest.

"Oh yeah? What are they?" he asked, smiling at her smile.

"Tequila… the Spice Girls… tears…" she said slowly, her huge smile turning into a mischievous grin.

"And?" Jay raised an eyebrow.

"Slutty wedding sex," she winked and Jay felt himself go hard at the rasp of her voice.

"Brooke," he moaned, dreading the thought of the cab ride back to her house.

"Which is why," she said slowly, unbuttoning the top button of Jay's dress shirt, "I got us a room at this hotel," she reached into her clutch and pulled out a keycard.

"What are we still doing down here then?" Jay asked, reaching for Brooke's hand to pull her back inside.

"Because until about 30 seconds ago you were confessing your love for me," she winked, bringing his hand to her mouth and kissing it as he pulled her through the hotel lobby.

"Good thing I can multitask," Jay smirked, pressing the elevator button. As soon as it arrived and they were behind closed doors, he had her pinned against the wall, whispering _I-love-you's_ between every kiss.


	5. Chapter 5

_Hi pretty people! Thank you for being so patient waiting for an update with this one. I'm glad I've been off from school for the week and have had time to write, I've missed it! I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving :) xo_

"I don't want you to leave," Brooke snuggled further into Jay's chest as his alarm went off, her words muffled against his warm skin.

"I don't want to leave either," Jay shut off his phone and tightened his hold around Brooke's body, placing a kiss into her hair. "Only one month until we get to do this everyday,"

"I can't wait," Brooke sighed, lifting her head to look at Jay but immediately missing his warmth.

Jay couldn't help but smile as her tired eyes met his and he took in her messy bed head and sleepy smile. "You're beautiful, Brooke Davis,"

Brooke felt her cheeks redden and her smile widen at his words. "I love you," she rasped, moving to sit against the headboard. She'd only admitted it two days ago, but now that it was out in the open she couldn't stop saying the words.

"I love you too," Jay sat up next to her and stole a kiss from her lips. "Good morning,"

"Morning," Brooke smiled contently, resting her head on his shoulder. "What time's your flight?" She knew she had to ask, even though her stomach sank as the words came out of her mouth.

"Noon," Jay sighed. "So get up so I can take my girl out for breakfast before I leave,"

Butterflies took off in Brooke's stomach when she heard the words "my girl" exited Jay's mouth. "That sounds nice. Except the leaving part."

"I know babe. I'm already counting the days til you're in Chicago for good," Jay buried his face in Brooke's hair and took in her scent one last time before making a move to get out of her bed. "Come on pretty girl, I want as much time out with you as possible,"

"Coming," Brooke groaned, already hating how empty her bed felt with Jay out of it for 30 seconds. She had a bad feeling she was going to have 28 cold, long sleepless nights.

Thirty minutes later, the couple was strolling hand in hand down the street to Brooke's favorite café where they were quickly seated and served. Jay sat across from Brooke, sipping his coffee and watching her as she typed vigorously on her phone. He couldn't help but let out a laugh at the way her brow was furrowed in concentration.

He continued to stare at her in amusement until she let out a frustrated groan, then he had to ask. "What's wrong, babe?"

She finally looked up from her phone to meet his eyes, a mix of anger, anxiety, and frustration written all over her face. "The woman who bought my storefront here wants to move the closing up to next week,"

Jay's face broke out from a smirk to a full-fledged grin. "That's a good thing, isn't it? Then you can come to Chicago sooner!"

Brooke opened her mouth then closed it again, choosing her words carefully. "No… yes… I don't know," she groaned. "I want nothing more to be in Chicago with you. But I'm not ready! The closing on my house is already next week, and I have nothing packed, and I still haven't found an apartment I liked in Chicago-"

"Hey," Jay reached across the table to squeeze her hand. "Take a deep breath," Brooke squeezed his hand then inhaled and exhaled slowly before he continued. "Where were you going to stay once your house was closed on?"

"Nathan and Haley offered me their guestroom since it would only be a few weeks," Brooke said shakily.

"And let's be honest, with all of your friends here to help you, how long would it take for you to pack?" Jay continued.

"Not long. I'm not bringing that much stuff, I was going to start over once I got to Chicago anyway," Brooke searched Jay's eyes to see where he was going with this.

"Do you absolutely need an apartment in Chicago?" Jay asked, the smirk returning to his face.

A look of sheer confusion overtook Brooke's face. "Is it one of your weird fantasies to date a hobo or something…?"

Jay couldn't help but laugh out loud at her thought. "Not quite." He squeezed her hand again. "Just move in with me. I know we haven't been together long, but I swear to you I want this to work more than I've ever wanted anything in my entire life. I have never felt this way about anyone in my entire life, Brooke. And if you asked me a year ago, I would be the last person to be preaching about 'fate' or anything being 'meant to be', but something brought us back together and you know it. I told you I'm all in, babe. And I want you home, in Chicago, with me as soon as possible."

Brooke had tears in her eyes by the time Jay finished his little speech. "Are you serious?" she choked out, trying not to burst out crying happy tears in the middle of this crowded restaurant.

"One hundred percent." Jay said simply, his hand still covering hers.

"Yes," Brooke's face broke out into a huge smile, her dimples as deep as Jay had ever seen them. "I'm moving to Chicago next week," she said as the realization hit her.

Jay couldn't help himself as he jumped up from his side of the booth and sat down next to her on the other side of the table, wrapping his arms around her and hugging her tight. Brooke squeezed him back, burying her face in his neck to finally let the tears fall. "I'm so happy," she mumbled into his shirt.

Jay rubbed her back as she pulled herself together. When she finally lifted her head, he used his thumbs to wipe the mascara from under her eyes and placed a kiss on her forehead. "You're sure about this, right? I don't want you to feel forced into anything,"

"More sure than I've ever been about anything," she promised.

Jay smiled as he got up to return to his side of the table. "So next week?"

Brooke took another deep breath as the stress of the situation hit her all over again, but suddenly it didn't seem so scary. "The closing on my house is set for Monday. This lady wants to close on the store on Wednesday… then I officially have nothing left in Tree Hill,"

"What about New York? You said you had to go there after you sold the store here," Jay asked, thinking back to their conversation last time she was in Chicago.

Brooke shook her head. "I've been… eager to get rid of this place. I've already done most of the paperwork over the computer. Anything that's left, Victoria can do for me because she's already in New York. It's not worth it for me to fly out there… not when I could be with you,"

"Let's do it then, pretty girl. Whatever you need, I got you." Jay smiled as he motioned their waitress for the check.

"Wow," Brooke breathed in a sigh of relief. "That was just… a lot. Thank you," she smiled back at him, her head still spinning.

Jay threw a pile of bills on the table and stood up, walking around the table to take Brooke's hand. "Come on, I still have an hour. Let's go figure out our lives," he winked as she stood up and he pulled her into him.

They got back to Brooke's house and she led Jay to the couch, immediately cuddling into his side. "So…" she began, lazily tracing patterns on his chest.

"So…" Jay repeated, throwing an arm around her shoulders and pulling her closer to him.

"Today is the 20th. My house closes on the 27th, and the store on the 29th…" Brooke said slowly.

"So in ten days you'll be all mine?" Jay smirked even though she couldn't see his face.

Brooke nodded against him, a smile overtaking her own face. "Ten days. The closing is in the morning, so if I leave by that night I'll be there the next morning."

Jay's smile widened as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.

"What are you doing?" Brooke asked, sitting up straight to finally see his face.

"Requesting June 30th off." The smile didn't leave Jay's face as he typed a text to Voight.

"Your boss is going to kill you, babe." Brooke laughed as she shook her head.

"Eh, it's worth it," Jay shrugged as he replaced his phone in his pocket.

"I need you alive, you dork. He kills you and I really do become homeless," she joked, raising a hand to cup Jay's cheek.

"Oh, and here I was thinking you were concerned for my well-being," Jay played along.

"Eh," Brooke shrugged, leaning into press her lips to his. "I guess I'd miss this a little," she mumbled into his mouth.

Jay smiled into the kiss and at the thought that in just ten days he'd be able to do this whenever he wanted. They could finally have real date nights that didn't require Facetime. She could comfort him after a hard case in person instead of over the phone. He could hold her tight after she got into a fight with Victoria instead of receiving heartbreaking text messages. His thoughts and the kiss were interrupted by his phone alarm going off, signifying that it was time to go to the airport.

Brooke groaned as she pulled away. "Would you missing your flight be the worst thing?"

Jay laughed as he recalled asking Brooke a similar question the morning after they'd reconnected in Chicago. Oh, how far they'd come.

"Ten days," he said with a smile as he stood from the couch, pulling Brooke up with him.

"Then I can do this whenever I want?" she asked, leaning in to capture his lips one last time.

"Whenever you want, pretty girl," Jay promised.


	6. Chapter 6

Hi my sweet readers! Thank you for being patient with me and my slow updates. I'm on college break for about a month now so I plan on giving you some well deserved updates and possibly some one-shots if I get inspo when the show comes back in a few weeks (or if you guys have any requests)! So without further ado, here is the first update because this is the story I've gotten the most requests for. IOYO update will be coming soon but please let me know if there's anything specific you'd like to see here, there, or anywhere honestly. I love you guys, thanks for being the best and always reading and reviewing – hope you're all having a lovely holiday season :) I'll stop rambling now, ENJOY! xo

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

"That was the last one!" Brooke smiled as Jay dropped a big brown box filled with her clothes onto the floor of his apartment.

"I thought you said you weren't bringing a lot?" Jay asked after taking a deep breath and using the back of his hand to wipe the sweat pooling on his forehead, examining the sea of moving boxes currently covering his entire floor.

"I didn't," Brooke laughed, puzzled. "This is just, like, half of my summer wardrobe until I can get settled in and go shopping,"

"Babe," Jay couldn't help but laugh. "Maybe you do need your own apartment just to store all of your clothes,"

"Kicking me out already?" she asked with a smirk, moving across the room to hand him the water bottle she was holding.

"Never," Jay gratefully took the clear bottle and finished it in one gulp, placing it on the table behind him as he reached out to wrap his arms around Brooke's waist. "Welcome home, pretty girl."

"Thank you," Brooke melted into his embraced and wrapped her arms around his neck, rising on her toes to press a kiss to his lips. Once she reluctantly pulled away, she buried her face in his neck and just took a moment to breathe in his scent. "Thank you for everything."

Jay placed a kiss to the top of her head. "Anything for you," he said so sincerely that Brooke felt her eyes well with tears. She was still having trouble processing that this was her life. She was getting the chance to start fresh with the man she was pretty sure was the love of her life. Her soul mate. She was absurdly happy. All of her friends were happy. They had all gotten out of the Tree Hill bubble. Everything had finally fallen into place.

"What are we doing today?" she mumbled into his skin, not ready to move just yet.

"Don't you want to rest? You just drove all night, babe."

Brooke shrugged and finally pulled back to make eye contact with her boyfriend. "But there's so much I want to do here. I want to go look at my storefront today and I want to meet all of your friends and I want to go to one of the million restaurants you've told me about and-"

"You're cute when you ramble, you know that?" Jay laughed as he watched Brooke's cheeks redden. Her eyes were so bright and full of excitement, but he could see the hidden exhaustion in them. "How about we do this – you rest for a bit, and I'll see if anyone from my team wants to go out for dinner tonight. We can pick a restaurant on Michigan Ave so we can stop by your store too. Sound good?"

"Perfect," she smiled and her dimples deepened. She was battling extreme exhaustion, but she was too excited to do anything about it. Leave it to Jay to come up with the perfect plan. "Come lay down with me?" she asked, finally removing her arms from around his neck to tug on his hand and lead him towards his – their? – bedroom.

"Let me just call the district and see what they're up to tonight. I'll be right in," Jay reciprocated with a pull on her hand to pull her back towards him to place a final kiss on her lips before she headed towards the bedroom.

Brooke pushed open the door at the end of the hallway to reveal Jay's bedroom for the first time. She smiled as a wave of the scent of his cologne greeted her as she walked into the room and took in her surroundings. The bed was in the center of the room against the back wall; it was huge and looked so comfortable – especially right now when she was nearing 24 hours without sleep. A picture of a motorcycle hung on the wall above the bed and there were a few pictures of Jay with friends and family scattered along the dresser. Not a single piece of furniture, clothing, or bedding was out of place and she let out a chuckle just imagining how annoyed he was going to get with her messy habits. She crossed the room and peeled back the covers on one side of the bed, crawling on to the soft surface and letting out a content sigh as she sunk down on the mattress. She adjusted the pillows behind her and laid back, her eyes closing nearly immediately. They popped open when the door to the room opened again and Jay walked in.

"Hi," she rasped, her voice already thick with tiredness.

"Comfortable?" Jay couldn't help but smile at her as he climbed into bed on the opposite side, immediately reaching over to pull her into him. The air conditioning in his apartment wasn't the best and it was sticky on the humid Chicago day, but he needed her close. It had been a long ten days without her.

"Mhmmm," she practically moaned, closing her eyes as she nestled into Jay's chest. "Did you call your friends?"

"Yeah," Jay traced circles on her back as she made herself comfortable. "They said they're all in for dinner tonight. What kind of food do you want?"

"I dunno," Brooke mumbled incoherently into his chest, sleep already beginning to take over.

Jay chuckled. "We'll figure it out later. Sleep, babe." By the time he finished his sentence, her breathing had already evened out and she was deep in dreamland.

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Brooke's eyes fluttered open to blackness as the thick wall of muscle she'd been cuddled in to, also known as Jay's chest, blocked her vision. She let out a content sigh and reluctantly rolled away from him, the high temperature of his room beating out her comfortable position.

Jay smiled as he felt Brooke wake up and tried to quickly avert his eyes so she didn't catch him staring at her.

"Whatcha looking at?" she asked with a laugh, letting him know he had been caught.

"This beautiful girl who just moved in with me," Jay played along, reaching across the pillows to play with her hair.

"Sounds like a lucky girl," Brooke laughed again, and Jay was positive he had a new favorite sound. "So what's the plan for tonight?"

"Dinner with my team – wherever you want. Then we'll stop by your new store; it can be just us or you can show the team. It's all up to you."

"That sounds nice," Brooke smiled and moved to sit up, knowing it was going to take her forever to find her clothes in the boxes and get ready. "So, tour guide, what restaurants do you recommend?"

"Hmmm... Café Spiaggia if you want Italian. Or if you like Mexican, Bandera is my favorite. And Remington's has a little bit of everything," Jay began to list his favorite restaurants on Michigan Avenue, a very easy task given his foodie personality.

"Mexican sounds so good," Brooke's eyes lit up at the thought and Jay let out a chuckle. "What time?"

"As long as they don't catch a case, Voight's letting them out at six tonight. So I told them we'd meet them at the district and head to dinner together." Jay noticed the time and followed Brooke's actions of getting out of bed.

"Mmmkay," Brooke smiled as Jay led her back into his living room to begin sorting through her boxes to find something to wear. "I'm never going to find anything cute in this mess," she groaned as she opened the top of the first box.

"I don't know, I think look pretty cute in everything. Or nothing," Jay winked as he walked past her. Brooke just rolled her eyes as she rifled through the boxes before finally settling on a white sundress paired with fuchsia heels and a matching necklace.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

"Are you sure your friends want to do this? I understand if they're tired from work or-"

"Babe," Jay cut off Brooke's rambling as they walked up the stairs to the 21st district. "They're excited. I promise. And I can't wait for them to get to know you better." He placed a kiss to her forehead before opening the door into the lobby.

"Chuckles!" Platt called from the desk, before her eyes landed on Brooke. "Hiring models to escort you to work again?"

Jay rolled his eyes as he took Brooke's hand and led her to the front desk. "Sergeant Platt, meet my girlfriend Brooke Davis. Brooke, meet desk sergeant Trudy Platt,"

"Nice to meet you," Brooke smiled at the older woman.

"Not sure how you pulled this one off, Halstead." The older woman looked at the detective skeptically, ignoring Brooke's greeting.

Jay rolled his eyes as he tightened his hold on Brooke's hand and let her over to the stairs, scanning the palm of his free hand to open the gate up to the bullpen. "Have a good night, Platt!" He called over his shoulder before leading Brooke up the stairs.

"She seemed… nice…" Brooke laughed as she followed him.

"You have no idea," Jay shook his head as they reached the top of the stairs, revealing a bullpen of distracted detectives in the middle of a seemingly intense paper football game and he cleared his throat to gain the attention of his team.

"Halstead!" Antonio greeted his mentee, walking across the bullpen to the couple. "Hey Brooke, it's nice to see you again. Welcome to Chicago."

"Thank you," Brooke smiled warmly at the group of detectives gathered around her, greeting her. "Happy to be here."

The team gathered their belongings and the group exited the precinct, deciding to take advantage of the pleasant early summer weather and walk to the restaurant. Ruzek, another officer that Brooke had met in Tree Hill, and his girlfriend Kim, whom Erin had just met, led the pack, walking hand in hand. Jay and Brooke followed, also hand in hand, surrounded by Antonio, Atwater, Nadia, and Jay's best friend Mouse. The group joked around for the duration of the walk, Brooke able to keep up with their banter easily. Jay smiled at the idea of how quickly and easily his girl fit into their chaotic little family. They arrived at Bandera and were seated quickly around a large circular table, Jay's apparent frequent visits paying off.

"So, Brooke, tell us about yourself. Let's see if there's anything Jay left out, since he literally talks about you all day, everyday," Jay's new partner, Nadia, teased after they ordered.

"Hey!" Jay shot back, feeling the heat rise in his cheeks.

"Don't deny it, Halstead. I thought my ears were going to fall off during the stakeout the other day," Nadia sassed back with a wink, then turned her attention to Brooke. "Seriously, we want to get to know you."

Brooke took a quick glance at Jay before beginning, letting out a small laugh at his blushing cheeks. "Well, I'm from Tree Hill, North Carolina. I lived there for basically all my life, except a few years after high school when I moved to New York City to start my fashion company… which you probably already know," She laughed again at the nods from Jay's team, signifying that he had, in fact, shared this information about her. "I don't know! What else do you guys want to know? I'm not that exciting, I swear."

"Girl's got a multi-million dollar fashion empire, but she's not exciting?" Atwater joked, shaking his head. "Alright, we'll start easy. Why Halstead?"

Jay shot a glare at the younger detective as the rest of the table roared with laughter, including Brooke. "Oh, God," she jokingly covered her face with her hands as she contemplated answers. "I don't know how it happened, really. Honestly I think it was because of his eyes." She shrugged.

"Aw, the baby blues," Ruzek teased.

Jay rolled his eyes again as Brooke continued. "I'm sure you all know about the attack, I mean, half of you investigated it. But it really messed me up. My anxiety attacks started up again and I was spiraling. I didn't do anything but isolate myself to work on designs. I was afraid to go back into my store and my assistant was running the business for me. But, um, the day your unit came to town, Jay and Antonio came to the store to talk to me. And I remember looking up and the first thing I did was make eye contact with Jay and I suddenly felt safe. For the first time in a week, my heart slowed to a normal rate and it felt like I could breathe again. Then the dorks came to Tric that night and he made up some corny excuse to come back to the store the next day and I knew I couldn't just let him walk out again. There was totally something there, but I wasn't in a place for a relationship, let alone a long distance thing. Then a year later, as fate would have it, my mom suggested opening a store in Chicago and obviously I volunteered myself to look at storefronts. And the next thing I knew, I turned around in a coffee shop and Jay was standing behind me…" she stole a glance at Jay next to her and her heart skipped a beat at the look of pure love on his face. "And here we are, I guess,"

"Wow," Kim sighed. The team had obviously been looking for something to make fun of Jay with, but Brooke's raw honesty floored them. And every detective had to admit, their boy had done good. "That's beautiful. Really makes you believe in fate, ya know?"

"Yeah," Brooke nearly whispered, feeling Jay's hand squeeze her knee under the table as the waitress appeared with their food. The conversation grew lighter as the group ate, with Brooke getting the opportunity to learn about each member of her boyfriend's team. She had an immediate connection with Nadia, which much to Jay's dismay, led to a lot of double-teamed teasing at his expense. He pretended to be annoyed, but he honestly couldn't have been happier about the fast-forming friendship between the two most important women in his life.

The group emptied their plates quickly but stayed seated around the table reliving old memories and making new ones until their waitress informed them the restaurant would be closing soon. They made their way back outside to Michigan Avenue, full of laughter and slightly more tipsy than they'd started the night.

Jay slung an arm around Brooke's shoulders and pulled her into him as they began to walk down the street. "You want them to see the store yet?" he asked her softly.

Brooke thought for a moment but shook her head against his shoulder. "I don't think so. I want to have a big grand opening that we can invite them too, but for tonight I just want it to be you and me."

"You and me," Jay repeated, dropping his neck slightly to press a kiss to her temple as they walked forward. "I like the sound of that."


	7. Chapter 7

_Hi my favorite humans :) this story was such a big leap for me and I'm so glad you're all enjoying it so much and I can't thank you all enough for being so patient between updates! I've been so stuck lately, I have three half-written one shots and no inspiration but hopefully now that CPD is back it'll help me get back in the swing of things! Stakeout makeout last night definitely helped ;) fingers crossed for more Linstead tonight! I hope you all enjoy this chapter – review, review, review! xo_

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

"Babe, I'm home!" Jay yelled as he shut the apartment door behind him and lined his newly removed boots by the door. _God, he loved being able to say that._ He was met with a fit of giggles coming from his kitchen and raised his eyebrows in confusion as he made his way down the hallway to see what Brooke was up to.

"Hi!" Brooke exclaimed excitedly as he appeared in the kitchen, her surprise evident that she hadn't heard him come in or greet her. She placed her wine glass down on the table and stood up, swiftly crossing the kitchen to properly greet him with a kiss on the lips. "I missed you,"

"Aww," Nadia mocked from her place at the kitchen table and Jay realized her and Kim's presence for the first time. Well, that would explain the giggles.

Jay gave Brooke another quick kiss before she made her way back to her spot at the table. "Nadia, Kim. I'd say it's good to see you, but I just saw you like an hour ago. How did you get here before me?" He racked his brain to see if any of the women in front of him had told him of these plans, but came up empty.

Nadia rolled her eyes. "We left like three hours ago, you dork. That's what happens when you finish your paperwork on time."

Brooke laughed at the sass her boyfriend's partner gave him. "They're helping me get everything organized for the grand opening tomorrow." She smiled proudly, motioning to the mess on the table in front of her. Jay's normally neat eating space was filled with flowers, candles, party favors, pieces of paper – you name it, it was probably in that pile somewhere.

Jay shuddered at the mess as he reached into his fridge for a beer. "Do you need me to do anything?" he asked as he popped the top.

Brooke shook her head. "No thank you. You go relax and watch the game or something. I heard about your tackle today, you must be exhausted."

Jay groaned as Brooke brought his attention back the pain in his ribs. And his arm. And his head. And basically just about everywhere else. He hadn't wanted to tell Brooke about it, knowing she needed to focus all of her attention on her opening tomorrow night instead of worrying about him. "I'm fine, babe. Just yell if you need me, okay?" he asked as he began to walk back to the living room where his couch and the Cubs game was screaming his name.

"You got it," Brooke smiled at him as he retreated out of the kitchen.

"God you guys are cute," Kim groaned, not trying to let her jealousy show. Her and Adam were engaged but he wouldn't even meet her parents, yet here was Jay, wanting to participate in arts and crafts for a clothing boutique for his girlfriend of a few months.

Brooke just smiled as she arranged a vase of flowers. She never thought that this would be her; that she would have this life. No one ever referred to her relationships as "cute", they were always just "hot" or "sexy". Physical, not emotional. No one was ever jealous of her relationships. They were usually one sided and majority of the time, everyone knew she was being cheated on but her. This was so… different. It felt so right. And every time the thought crossed her mind, or someone pointed it out, she couldn't help but smile.

Later that night, when the flowers were arranged and the playlist was made and the paperwork was organized, Brooke led Nadia and Kim out of the apartment. She gave them a hug thanking them for their help and promised to see them the following night at the official grand opening of the Chicago location of Clothes Over Bros. Once the door was shut, Brooke breathed a sigh of relief that she was finally alone with Jay. While she had been enjoying the girls company and was thankful for their help, she had been secretly worrying about Jay ever since Nadia had relayed the story of the team's bust and Jay's subsequent tackle of a 300 pound man earlier in the day. She quietly made her way over to the back of the couch and stood behind it, placing her hands on Jay's shoulders and beginning to knead the tight muscles.

Jay let out a moan as he dropped his head to be back of the couch and looked up at his girlfriend, a smile overtaking his lips as he did so. "Hi pretty girl,"

"Hey," Brooke rasped back, keeping her hands on his shoulders as she leaned over the couch to press a kiss to his lips. "How do you feel?"

"I'm fine," Jay repeated. And in reality, he was. Maybe he was a little sore, but the most beautiful girl in the world was standing above him and worrying about him and kissing him, so he was going to be just fine. "Come here." He patted the couch cushion next to him.

Brooke obliged, walking around to the front of the couch and sitting down next to Jay, immediately cuddling into his side. She made a move to pull away when Jay gasped in pain, but he immediately threw an arm around her shoulders to hold her in place. "I'm good."

"Promise? I don't want to hurt you," Brooke said softly as she gently rested her head on his shoulder.

"You could never," Jay promised, placing a kiss on the crown of her head and letting his lips linger for a minute. "Are you excited for tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Brooke nodded against his shoulder. "A little nervous though,"

"Why?" Jay asked as he absentmindedly played with a strand of her hair. "It's going to be great."

"I dunno," Brooke shrugged. "Life is just going really well right now. Like, life never goes this well for me and I feel like something has to go wrong soon. And this location… it's big. This could make or break my company,"

"Hey," Jay adjusted himself and Brooke so he was facing her. He gently held her chin in his hand to force her to look at him. "You are amazing. And your life is going well because you're working hard and you deserve it. I am so proud of you and so lucky to be on this journey with you. Tomorrow is going to be great and I can't wait to watch you blow everyone's minds. And your company is going to be better than ever."

Brooke took a deep breath and let her eyes flutter shut as she rested her head in Jay's hand. "Thank you," she breathed as she slowly opened her eyes. "I really needed to hear that."

"I didn't say anything but the truth, pretty girl." Jay leaned forward to once again rest his lips on her crown.

"I love you so much," Brooke moved her head so her lips met his. "Come on, I still owe you a massage," she winked as she stood up from the couch and grabbed Jay's hand to lead him into the bedroom.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

"Are you ready? We're going to be late to your own opening!" Jay yelled to Brooke through the closed bedroom door. Brooke had disappeared to get ready almost two hours ago and other than popping in the bedroom for ten minutes to change almost an hour ago, he hadn't wanted to bother her. And he wanted to avoid the absolute mess that was his bedroom right now. He loved the girl, but it looked like her entire boutique was currently on his bedroom floor. He couldn't be mad though, he knew Brooke's nerves were getting the best of her and she wanted everything to be perfect for tonight.

"I'm coming!" she yelled back, tension evident in her voice. Jay sighed at the sound and turned the doorknob to enter the room.

His jaw dropped when he saw her. She was wearing a dark, short sleeved red lace skater dress with a V-neck that dropped to just above her belly button. It hugged her curves in all of the right places and put her perfect cleavage on display in the most tasteful way. She'd paired it with black stilettos that made her legs look ten miles long and her long brown hair fell in loose waves down her back. "Brooke," he choked out, swallowing hard. "You look amazing."

She smiled as a blush similar to the color of her dress crept its way onto her cheeks. "Thank you," she rasped, her voice much gentler than it had been moments ago. "Sorry about this," she laughed as she motioned to the closet explosion that had happened throughout the bedroom.

"Don't worry about it," Jay shook his head, still unable to find an ounce of annoyance in his body. Especially when his girl looked like this. He stepped forward and grabbed her hand, squeezing it tight. "Let's go open the best store in Chicago, yeah?"

Brooke smiled gratefully as she squeezed his hand back. "Yeah." 

A half hour later, Brooke inserted the key into the door of the newest shop on Michigan Ave. She let herself and Jay in and flicked on the lights, admiring her newest accomplishment. She'd spent majority of the morning and afternoon here decorating, dressing mannequins, organizing displays, and doing whatever else needed to be done to make tonight to as smoothly as possible.

"It looks great, babe." Jay came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her small body, pressing his lips to her neck.

"Thank you," Brooke smiled as she leaned back into him. "It's almost show time," she announced, glancing up at the clock that hung behind the register.

Jay placed a final kiss on her neck before releasing his hold on her body. "The team will be here soon. I think most of them are bringing their families. I hope there will be room for them when the entire city of Chicago shows up." He winked as Brooke rolled her eyes at him. "What do you need me to do?"

"Nothing… it's good. It's time." Brooke smiled proudly as she looked around her store again. Not a shirt, dress, or handbag was out of place on a hanger or shelf. There were comfy chairs and small accent tables around the huge space, strategically covered in candles and vases of flowers. A big table was set up in the middle of the store, holding bottles of champagne, glasses, and a sparkly ice bucket. String lights hung from the ceiling and the walls and the speakers were quietly playing today's Top 40 hits. As if on cue, there was a knock on the door and Brooke looked to her right to see majority of Jay's team standing outside.

"Let's do this, pretty girl." Jay squeezed her shoulder supportively as he made his way to the door to let Kim, Adam, Nadia, Kevin, and his little sister in. Brooke took a deep breath as she followed in Jay's direction but made her way to the front window of the store, pulling the chain to turn on the neon "open" sign. Her action was met by cheers from the team and a few other random Chicagoans who had followed them into the store. Clothes Over Bros Chicago location was officially open for business.

"Congratulations!" Nadia and Kim ran up to Brooke and engulfed her in a huge hug. "It looks amazing in here."

"Thanks guys," Brooke smiled proudly as she squeezed them back. She was next met with a hug by Atwater, who introduced her to his little sister Vanessa.

"Hey sweetheart," Brooke smiled as she bent down so she was eye level with the young girl. "Thank you for coming,"

"You're pretty," the little girl smiled at Brooke, reaching out to touch a curl of her hair.

"Thank you, you're very pretty yourself. Want to see something that would look amazing with that dress?" Brooke asked as she stood up, holding a hand out for Vanessa to take as she nodded eagerly. Brooke led her across the store to a display of handbags, carefully choosing a yellow wristlet that matched the young girl's sundress.

"Let me go ask Kevin if I can buy it!" Vanessa exclaimed, her eyes wide in shock as Brooke handed her the leather clutch.

"You don't have to buy it," Brooke laughed. "I'm giving it to you. It's a thank you gift for coming."

A wide smile spread across the little girl's face as she threw her hands around Brooke's legs in a hug. "Thank you!"

"Of course, cutie. Thank you for coming," Brooke ruffled her curly hair and the little girl ran off to show her brother her newfound treasure as more customers came up to greet Brooke.

Hours later, once the line at the register had finally come to an end, Brooke took the moment of peace to look out at her store. It was beginning to empty out due to the time but it was still filled with the members of Jay's team and their families, people whom she had just met but was already beginning to love. It was also filled with probably triple the amount of people she'd been expecting to show up tonight; there were probably more bodies in the store at this moment than had ever been in the Tree Hill location during its entire existence combined. Breathing a sigh of relief, Brooke switched off the radio and picked up the microphone on the counter.

"Hi everyone!" she spoke into the microphone and smiled at the crowd. "It's time to shut down for the night, but I can't thank you guys enough for coming out to the opening of Clothes Over Bros Chicago!" she paused for a minute as the crowd erupted in cheers. "I am so shocked and so thankful at the outcome of this night. I never expected this amount of support and I hope you all liked what you saw. It was my pleasure to meet so many amazing, welcoming Chicagoans tonight and I can't wait to continue to serve you. I just wanted to take these last few moments to say a thank you to everyone who helped this night come together and everyone who took time out of their busy lives to come see what my store was all about. And a special thank you to my amazing boyfriend, Jay. I couldn't have done this without you." Brooke stopped speaking again to catch her breath as the crowd elicited an 'aww'. "I hope to see you all back soon, thank you again!"

Brooke placed the microphone back down on the counter and turned the music back on while customers began to filter out of the store. Eventually, the space was empty and it was only her and Jay left. She watched with a smile as Jay held the door opening for the last customer, then locked it behind her before turning around. He began to walk towards Brooke as she walked out from behind the register, meeting him halfway in the middle of the store. "Guess what, pretty girl?" Jay asked as they met each other and he reached out to hold her hands.

"What?" Brooke asked, unable to wipe the smile off of her face.

"You did it." Jay smiled proudly at her as he let go of her hands to pull her in for a hug. He held her tight, resting his chin on her head. "You did it and I am so proud of you."

Brooke wrapped her arms around him and squeezed tight. "I couldn't have done it without you." Jay began to protest, but she quickly cut him off again. "Seriously. I would have lost my mind this week. I've never done this without Victoria or Millie before and it was hard, but you kept me grounded and helped me whenever I needed it and it just wouldn't have happened without your support. So thank you."

"Anything for you," Jay pulled out of the hug to press his lips to hers. "Let's clean up and get out of here, alright?"

Brooke nodded. "That sounds perfect." Everything in her life was perfect.

It was midnight by the time Jay and Brooke got back to the apartment and settled down on the couch in front of highlights of the Cubs game. "It's late, babe. You should go to bed so you're not tired for work tomorrow." Brooke mumbled from where she lay curled into Jay's side, even though she didn't want her personal pillow moving.

"I wanna hear about your night first." Jay smiled at her concern as he tightened his arm around her waist. He'd gladly be a zombie tomorrow if it meant more time with his girl tonight.

"You were there, you goof." Brooke laughed.

"But I wanna know what you thought. How'd the store do?" he asked.

"Good," Brooke smiled even though he couldn't see her face as she absentmindedly drew patterns on his chest. "We sold all of the original displays and emptied over half of the storage room in the back. I'm gonna have to place a rush order to restock in the morning."

"You're a rockstar." Jay leaned down to press a kiss to her forehead.

Brooke couldn't help but laugh. "I love you," she told him and it gave Jay the very same butterflies it had the first time she said those words. She said it so simply, like they were the only three words in the world. So matter-of-factly. Like it was obvious. And from what Brooke had told him about her past, he knew it wasn't easy for her. He took pride in being able to get her to open up to him and being able to make her happy. He didn't have any idea what he'd done to deserve the girl lying in his arms, but he thanked God everyday for her.

"I love you too," he answered just as simply, and Brooke felt the same butterflies.


End file.
